'Saturday Night Live' Lady Gaga Episode: The 5 Best Sketches

It’s refreshing to see Gaga without all her crazy on. It was evident from the get go with her musical number monologue that she's infinitely more fun and talented than the average musical guest or host and her energy, coupled with some above-average writing, made this a high octane episode.

Here are the five best sketches of the night:

1.Co-op Board

This sketch was pretty good, if mostly a parade of silly characters. Kate MacKinnon was terrifying, as was Keenan talking about his testes. It certainly left a lasting impression, if nothing else.

2.Female Sea Captains

Honestly, this is a placeholder for a sketch that they probably couldn't put online because of all the copyrighted music they used. Suffice to say Bobby Moynihan as Nathan Lane covering Shaggy was a highlight of the evening. But the 'she shanties' in this web exclusive (as well as all the Rob Ford jokes in this episode) tickled this recapper's ice cold Atlantic Canadian heart.

3.4th Grade Talent Show

It's rare that the sketches at the end of the night outshine the earlier ones, but this one was an absolute exception. This sketch, as well as being relatable to anyone who has ever met one of these parents, featured lots of big, fun physicality and Gaga doing her thing as fabulously as ever.

4.Blockbuster

The Game of Thrones reference made this sketch; after that, it was all gravy.

R.I.P. Blockbuster.

5.Cold Open: Rob Ford

OK, everyone and their mother knows about Rob Ford by now, so it was only a matter of time before Bobby Moynihan did an impression of him. This hit pretty much all the right notes, and anytime someone screams, "I fell on my dick," well, that's true comedy. Bonus points for an accurate representation of the CBC.

Emily Duncan is a Canadian born, New York based writer and comedian. She graduated from New York University with a B.F.A. and has since held a variety of jobs in the arts. Emily has written and performed sketch comedy at UCBNY, the PIT, the Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival, and a variety of other places along the east coast. Her short plays have been produced in NYC, California and Canada and she has worked in theater, film and television production.
Upcoming projects include the short film "Are You Afraid of the '90s?" by Kate Moran, starring Kristine Sutherland and Heather Matarazzo:
http://www.that90smovie.com
And performing her own piece, "On Not Dying", at SWAN Day Boston:
https://www.facebook.com/SWANDayBoston2014BPT